alaska cruise ship problem

15 Alaska cruise mistakes you never want to make

For many, an Alaska cruise is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. You don't want to screw it up because you might not get the chance for a do-over. Unfortunately, it's easier than you think to make Alaska cruise mistakes that can ruin a trip or prevent you from experiencing Alaska to the fullest.

While cruises to the Last Frontier are not polar-cruise-level adventures, they require more careful planning than for a Mexico or Caribbean sailing. You need to get all the details right, from booking the cruise and packing your bags to what to do and see during your cruise.

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Here's a list of things you should never do on an Alaska cruise. Avoid these Alaska cruise mistakes, and you'll be on your way to a smooth sailing.

Alaska cruise planning mistakes to avoid

No matter how many times you've cruised before, you might be shocked at how much planning you need to do for an Alaska sailing. Get these things wrong, and you might miss out on your big Alaska cruise experience.

Assume all Alaska cruises are the same

This is an easy mistake to make on your first Alaska cruise. However, matching your ship and itinerary to your expectations and travel style is crucial for a successful trip.

Are you looking for a full day of glacier time? Try a mid-season sailing that visits Glacier Bay National Park . Early- and late-season cruises might be unable to access the glaciers on their itineraries due to ice floes.

Want to see whales? A round-trip Alaska cruise in June is ideal. Do you want to fish for salmon? You'll want to book at the peak of the salmon fishing season, from mid-June to mid-August. Ketchikan is the salmon capital of the world, and while most cruises stop there, a few don't, so make sure it's on the itinerary if you wish to fish.

Are you taking kids on your Alaska cruise? Big ships often have more for kids to do on board, which might be more important than where the ship goes. Expedition-style cruises may have less for youngsters but appeal to independent teens. These voyages offer a more intimate and close-up Alaska experience, with outings on kayaks and Zodiac boats that launch directly from the ship.

Wait to book excursions

You don't have to worry about booking tours in advance in some cruise destinations. Alaska cruises are not like that.

Alaska shore excursions fill up fast. It's worse in mid-summer, but even on shoulder season sailings, you may not find space on the excursions you hoped to do if you wait until you're on the ship to book. The only solution is to sign up for tours as early as possible.

Does this mean you shouldn't take advantage of last-minute Alaska cruise deals if you find them? Of course not. Snap those babies up — just come prepared with a list of second and third choices of excursions, just in case.

Related: Tips for booking the best cruise shore excursion for your money

Overlook independent excursions

You don't have to stick with ship-sponsored shore excursions in every port in Alaska. On my last Alaska cruise, we booked kayaking independently for our stop in Ketchikan. It was one of the best experiences of the entire cruise. The company picked us up and dropped us off at the cruise ship. We were guaranteed an on-time return to the ship and paid far less than the ship's kayaking excursions.

If you want to check out independent tours , you can find several Alaska excursion aggregators online or deal directly with independent businesses. Make sure you inquire about tour timing and leave a buffer, so you won't miss your ship even if there's traffic or a delay.

Book same-day flights on embarkation day or early flights home

You don't want to find yourself stuck in an airport because of a flight delay when you should be boarding your cruise. To avoid this problem, book your flights to arrive the day before your cruise departs rather than the same day.

If you think it can't happen to you, listen to my most recent flight horror story. I was on not one but two flights on the same day, where minor mechanical problems caused deplaning and two-hour delays. I should have landed at my destination at 11:30 a.m. but didn't arrive until after 5 p.m. Had that been embarkation day, my ship would have sailed without me.

Similarly, it's always best to book departing flights home for the afternoon in case the ship is delayed returning to port or is not cleared by authorities on time. If you're flying in or out of Anchorage, know that all transportation options include several hours of travel from the ports of Seward and Whittier; you might consider overnighting in Anchorage either pre-or post-cruise to play it safe.

Skip the travel insurance

Airline issues aside, Alaska can be a wee bit hazardous. You will encounter slippery slopes and rocky roads — and that's just walking through Alaska port towns. You might be participating in more daring activities than normal, such as flying in helicopters, hiking across glaciers, kayaking icy waters or zip-lining through forests. It's easy for something to go wrong.

On my last Alaska cruise, I heard about two passenger emergencies. A kid broke an arm on the ship and needed surgery, so a family of five disembarked in Ketchikan — not exactly a cheap end to their vacation, I'm guessing. Later in the sailing, a sick passenger was airlifted directly off the ship by the Canadian Coast Guard before we made it to Victoria.

If you live in the U.S., your health insurance is most likely valid in Alaska. You'll be covered for medical expenses but not the other expenses associated with any injury that interrupts your cruise. Travel insurance is the way to go unless you want to pay for flight changes and medical evacuation out of pocket.

Related: The best cruise travel insurance plans

Alaska cruise packing mistakes to avoid

Packing for an Alaska cruise can be tricky. The region's unpredictable weather means it can be rainy and 50 degrees one day, then sunny and 85 degrees the next. Mix in boat rides and glacier watching from the ship at 6 a.m., and you have a complicated packing job ahead of you. Don't make these Alaska cruise packing mistakes.

Forget your rain gear

Rule No.1 on Alaska cruises: Pack rain gear. It might not rain one drop on your cruise, but chances are good the weather will be wet at some point on your trip. When it does, you'll want the right gear to stay dry and not be drippy and miserable.

Waterproof shoes or boots are a must. For extra protection, spray them with a water-repellant sealer before you pack. You can stow lightweight raincoats or ponchos and pull-on rain pants in your backpack during excursions when you don't need them.

Skimp on layers

Layers are the only way to dress on an Alaska cruise. Start with thin, base-layer undergarments that won't bulk up your clothes and are comfortable even if the day turns out warmer than expected. The final layers of outerwear should be lightweight because you may need to stuff them in your backpack for half the day as the temperature rises.

I especially like puffy vests and jackets for Alaska. You can shed the jacket as temperatures allow, then lose the vest if it gets even warmer. Top everything with caps, knit hats, earmuffs and gloves. Those things might be excessive for a stroll through town, but important in the wind on a whale-watching boat.

Related: Cruise packing list: The ultimate guide to what to pack for a cruise

Overpack on eveningwear

The dress code on most Alaska cruises is more relaxed than in other cruise destinations. Days are long and outdoorsy, leaving people less enthusiastic about rushing back to the ship to put on fancy clothes and dress shoes.

Trade out your hiking shoes for comfy flats or dress sneakers. Jazz up casual, neutral-colored slacks (even jeans) or skirts with jackets or scarves. You can leave the formalwear and high heels at home.

Cheap out on insect repellant

Mosquitoes in Alaska aren't always a nuisance, but they can be horrendous. Pack insect repellant and full-coverage clothing as though you were planning to visit a rainforest … because you are.

If you don't plan on checking a bag, pick up bug spray in your departure city or first port of call.

Leave the binoculars and cameras at home

One question I get asked often is whether you can see whales and other wildlife from the ship. The answer is a resounding yes. Unfortunately, much of what you will see is from a distance.

You can solve that problem with a pair of lightweight binoculars. They're also useful for getting a close-up view of glaciers or spotting eagles in port. Consider bringing a pair for everyone in your group because you don't want to fight over one pair when a pod of whales comes into view.

As for cameras, I recommend that everyone in your travel group have a water-resistant camera or a waterproof smartphone case or pouch. I lean toward cameras rather than phones for two reasons. One, most cameras dropped into the depths of an Alaskan bay pose a less traumatic loss than most smartphones. My second reason is in the next section.

Related: Can you use your cellphone on a cruise?

Mistakes to avoid during your Alaska cruise

Once you're on board your ship, it's time to put all the craziness of planning and packing behind you. You've made it, and you don't want to let anything get in the way of enjoying your cruise.

Stare at your phone too much

An Alaska cruise is the ideal time to hit pause on your digital life. Sure, you want to capture the amazing scenery, but you know what? Few of the pictures you take will accurately portray the scale of the beauty of Alaska.

The photos you'll enjoy most when you look back next year are the ones of your travel partners enjoying the trip. Take those, then spend your time soaking up the enchantment of this place. The news, email correspondence and your Instagram followers can take a back seat until you're back home.

Assume the seas will be smooth

Don't be surprised if you feel seasick in Alaska's waters, even if no other cruise has made you feel that way. Cruising through the Inside Passage is generally calm, but the open waters of the Pacific Ocean can be choppy. Even the bays can churn up quickly during summer storms.

Ships also do a lot of maneuvering, including turning complete circles designed to give everyone on board access to the amazing views. Unfortunately, those tight turns can contribute to nausea for some people.

Prepare by packing motion sickness relief bands you place on pressure points on your wrists, prescription scopolamine transdermal patches, ginger candies, over-the-counter seasickness medications and herbal motion sickness patches. I've used these for years, with only one failure on a rather small ship.

You can also treat the woozies with seasickness tablets, which are often available free at the medical center or guest services, green apples from the buffet and ginger ale from your ship's friendly bartenders. Related: How to avoid seasickness on your next cruise

Spend all your time indoors

You packed all those clothing layers — now's the time to use them. The coldest part of your Alaska cruise will likely be while the ship cruises through can't-miss scenery. Don't wimp out in an observation lounge. Bundle up and head outside to fully take in the view. Your balcony may give you an edge over the folks in interior rooms, but you won't get a 360-degree vista unless you're out on the top deck.

The best souvenir advice I've received is to buy a cozy throw or blanket at your first port stop. They won't cost a fortune and will serve a purpose for the rest of the cruise. Picture yourself cozy and warm in your fuzzy Alaska souvenir blanket, sipping hot chocolate while watching glaciers calving. Once home, you'll remember your epic vacation every time you snuggle up on the couch.

Sleep through your vacation

This is not a cruise you want to sleep through — and even if that's your plan, you may have difficulty accomplishing it. Long hours of daylight, excursions and glacier viewings that start early, and even your own fear of missing out can have you out of bed early and staying up later than you might on any other cruise.

Sleep apps and eye masks may help with the daylight situation. I also find that Alaska cruises are ideal for ordering room service meals. It definitely saves time before morning excursions and can provide a bit of downtime in your cabin for lunch or dinner on occasion.

Fail to try something new

Your Alaska cruise offers many opportunities to try things you might never have the chance to do again. You could walk on glaciers, snorkel in a dry suit in the frigid Alaska waters or play with sled dog puppies. Or how about riding in a sled pulled by sled dogs? We already mentioned salmon fishing, which is surprisingly fun, even if you'd never go fishing at home.

The array of things to try in Alaska can be as tame or as adventurous as you want — it's the joy of discovery that's key. I once kayaked in Ketchikan with a woman on her first solo cruise in Alaska. She'd never kayaked before. When our marine biologist guide pulled a sea cucumber from the crystal-clear waters to show us, she squealed with delight when he offered to let her hold it. That's the kind of joy you cruise to Alaska to experience.

Bottom line

You can avoid the most common Alaska cruise mistakes with a little extra planning.

The goal is to have the Alaska cruise experience you and your travel companions long for. Achieve that by choosing an itinerary that gets you to the things you want to see and do, shopping early for excursions (especially the ones you have your heart set on), and packing gear and clothes that will keep you comfy during your Alaska adventure.

Everything else is about stepping outside, breathing in the shockingly clean air, and enjoying the cruise.

Planning a cruise? Start with these stories:

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17 Alaska Cruise Mistakes You Want To Avoid

It’s no secret that an Alaska itinerary has been rapidly growing in popularity around the world. Many of the world’s glaciers are in Alaska, and some are only viewable from the ocean. So, do your research and find the  best Alaska cruise for you.

If it’s your first cruise to Alaska, you might suffer from information overload. While Alaskan itineraries greatly contrast warmer destinations, and the weather can be unpredictable, even at the height of summer. 

Without reading some guides on Alaska , many who sail the inside passage make some common Alaska cruise mistakes.

If you’re reading this post, you’re likely pre-planning your Alaska cruise, or you’ve already booked. If you want to know what to pack or what to expect, read on. These essential Alaska tips will help you prevent common mistakes made when cruising to Alaska.

Thinking It’s Cheap

Unlike the Caribbean, where there are hundreds of sailings from multiple ports, Alaska sailings are primarily from Seattle or Vancouver. 

However, Californians can take an Alaska cruise from San Francisco and back. However, the Alaska cruise season is short, from May until September, although Norwegian offers itineraries as early as mid-April through to mid-October.

With an itinerary growing in popularity, don’t expect to score deals like those 7-day cruises out of Florida. While I have seen one-week Caribbean cruises for a mere USD 300, Alaska cruise discounts are few and far between. For most, Alaska cruise prices might surprise you.

If you’re attempting to travel north on the cheap,   discounted Alaska cruises  are sometimes offered from Vancouver to Alaska on a one-way itinerary. Be sure to calculate your airfare to determine if the cheap cruises from Vancouver are truly a “deal.”

May Alaska itineraries are considered the shoulder season. At the end of the season, Alaska cruises in September may also be discounted as cruise lines attempt to fill unoccupied staterooms.

Looking for the best Alaska cruise? Find it on Cruise Direct . Choose from short itineraries to extended journeys form multiple cruise lines.

Not Knowing What To Pack

Unlike its warmer cousins, Alaska requires a whole different set of cruise essentials. Knowing what to pack is half the battle. Here are some  Alaska packing tips  for bringing the right gear.

While Alaska has a reputation for being cold, the coastal areas visited by cruise ships are really not that cold. Alaskan ports are located in pristine rainforests, so as a result, it is wet, very wet. 

No matter what month you cruise, Alaska cruise weather is unpredictable.

Ketchikan, for instance, receives almost 4 meters or 13 feet of rain per year. No raincoats or wellington boots are needed here; maybe an ark instead?

In fact, cruise passengers are welcomed in Ketchikan by a gigantic liquid sunshine gauge which I thought was hilarious. 

Not Packing Enough Rain Gear

One of the biggest Alaska cruise mistakes that most passengers make is not having an appropriate packing list.

Knowing what to take on an Alaska cruise can make the difference between having a nice cruise and enjoying a tremendous vacation.

While the Caribbean and Mediterranean require bathing suits, sun hats, and sunscreen, an Alaska cruise requires a different set of essentials.

Alaska packing can be challenging since clothing can differ from what to wear in port to what’s best on glacier viewing days.

When choosing Alaska clothing and Alaska cruise essentials, make sure you bring a waterproof jacket (not water-resistant).

I prefer interchangeable jackets that allow me to wear the layers separately on port days or together at the glaciers. Also, Alaska cruise wear is not complete without a compact umbrella.

You may need more than one pair of walking shoes should it rain on port days. Alternatively, use a pair of Vessi waterproof runners and you’ll only need one pair.

If you dislike the rain and looking for the best time to cruise Alaska, sail in May. An Alaska cruise in May is by far the driest time to sail to the Last Frontier.  

Also, during the shoulder season, I have scored cheap cruises from Vancouver’s cruise port. Should you prefer to sail an Alaska cruise from Seattle, Alaska cruises discounts are again offered in May and September.

Since it rains a great deal in Alaska, it’s advisable to have a camera rain sleeve.   Electronics don’t like to get wet and if you’ve invested a considerable amount of money in an expensive DSLR camera, remember to protect it from the elements.

Not Having Enough Warm Clothes

I sailed my first Alaska 7-day cruise in the third week of July while Vancouver was experiencing a heatwave. 

I expected it to be slightly cooler a little further north. However, it rained every day of my 7-day Celebrity Alaska cruise,  and the nights were bitterly cold.

I was not prepared for the chilly nights and did not pack enough layers to keep me warm. Not having enough warm layers was one of my biggest mistakes. I didn’t make that mistake the next time.

If you’re cruising in the shoulder season, pack a base layer, sweats, and fleece. The dress code is more relaxed in Alaska so think warmth over style.

While the nights were cold, the air-conditioning on the cruise ship made it that much colder. Be sure to include plenty of layers and enough long pants to keep you cozy on those cold nights. 

Be prepared for any weather, from a heatwave to bitterly cold weather. On an inside passage cruise, you CAN overpack because you might need every item. 

I have gone from shorts and a tank top one day to a winter jacket, scarf, and gloves the next day.

Not Having Enough Layers

It’s also important to remember that your Alaska itinerary will probably include a visit to some Alaska glaciers. 

While it may be warmer in the Alaskan cruise ports , it can be bitterly cold at the glaciers. The wind that came off the glaciers chilled me to the bone.

While I traveled all the way to Alaska to see these glaciers, I didn’t want to be viewing these inside the ship. 

So I enjoyed the glacial views from the ship’s outer decks, and I was thankful to have a thalassotherapy pool onboard to warm my core. 

The best place for viewing is up on deck, and here, if you’re lucky enough, you will hear the thundering noise of glacier calving. 

“Calving” is when a piece of ice cracks and falls off the glacier. It’s a spectacular occurrence to experience.

For glacier viewing, pack gloves, a scarf, a warm hat, and a 3-in-1 jacket.  Should the weather favor the warmer side, you can wear one layer of the jacket.

If you’re a cold person like me, bring hand warmers too. I found the hand warmers to be a life-saver while spending hours on deck.

It’s also good to note that formal nights can be chilly. Those strapless cocktail dresses might give you the chills. So, bring a shawl or shoulder overlay to keep you a little warmer during dinner.

Better yet, choose long-sleeved formal dresses for formal nights. You can always change into something cozier after dinner.

Not Having Binoculars

It’s no secret that an Alaska itinerary offers an abundance of wildlife, and isn’t that why travelers come to Alaska?

Having cruised to Alaska four times, my wildlife sighting included humpback whales, otters, bald eagles, seals, bears, and salmon.  

In fact, whales are so plentiful that they are easily spotted on every Alaska sailing. However, whales tend to feed close to the shorelines, so you will need a pair of binoculars for optimum viewing.

Small, compact binoculars are excellent for Alaska.   If you want to shoot pictures of the Alaskan wildlife, consider these binoculars  for an Alaska cruise because they have a cell phone camera mount. 

That way, you get to share your experience with your family and friends when you return home.

During the summer months, bears often walk the shores of Glacier Bay, foraging for food. But again, you will need binoculars to spot them. 

During my cruise, wildlife experts were on board to give tips on spotting them. Don’t miss out on the excitement by not having a pair of binoculars.

Not Having A Zoom Lens

Photographs are the best souvenirs of my vacation, and they really cost me nothing but my time. During my many Alaska cruises, ships spend hours cruising a glacier or many glaciers, as is the case in Glacier Bay National Park.

In the bay, I wait anxiously to experience glacial calving. If you have a DSLR camera, set it to multiple images, not a single shot. A zoom lens is vital to get a close-up of calving in action.

A zoom lens is handy for wildlife photography too. You won’t be able to capture a picture of the roaming black bear using a cellular phone. 

While most people use a cell phone for photos these days, it’s preferable to have a better camera with a zoom lens in Alaska.

Not Booking A Balcony Stateroom

Alaska cruises are very scenic, with cruise ships traveling close to shorelines. It’s a destination where the best views are from the ship itself. Picking a stateroom may come down to cost. While a balcony cabin comes at a higher price, believe me, it’s worth the additional expense.

During glacier viewing days, the upper decks of the vessel become quite crowded. Avoid the large groups by enjoying the views from your cabin instead. 

The balcony provides shelter during bad weather and is only steps away from your stateroom should you get cold. 

Don’t worry about which side of the ship to book. The captain will rotate the vessel on glacier days so passengers can have equal viewing time.

If a balcony is out of your budget, an ocean view stateroom saves money and you can enjoy the scenery through your window. Alternatively, choose one of the older ships because the prices tend to be lower.

Thinking You Can See It All

Alaska is massive, and one cruise to the frozen north will only give you a tidbit of what Alaska offers. If you’re privileged to experience its allure once, you’ll understand why it begs another visit.

While I’m fortunate to have traveled there multiple times, I’m constantly drawn back like a “calling of the wild.” Each time I visit, I try to explore another hidden gem or venture in a different direction. 

I want to be swallowed by its immense beauty and absorb the magnificent vistas like a sponge soaks up water. These are images I want to ingrain in my mind forever.

Not Being Able to Sleep

During the summer, Alaska experiences very long hours of daylight. In fact, in some places, the sun never sets. 

If you are sensitive to light (like me), you may have difficulty sleeping at night. This might be the itinerary where you’d want to book an inside cabin with no natural daylight.

Selecting the  right cabin for Alaska  may make a big difference between a good night’s sleep or not sleeping at all. Alternatively, bring an eye or sleeping mask to shut out the pesky light at night.

Not Prepared For Motion Sickness

Alaska cruises primarily sail the inside passage. However, there is a small section between Vancouver Island across Queen Charlotte Sound that can be choppy. 

If you are cruising a one-way itinerary, there is also an area after Glacier Bay to Whittier that can experience rough seas. On rough sea days, you’ll find the main dining room quite empty.

Alaska cruises from San Francisco can also experience big swell, contributing to seasickness. The calmest sailings are on an Alaska cruise from Vancouver.

It’s best to prepare with Gravol, ginger pills, Sea-bands, or motion sickness patches to prevent ruining your vacation. The patches are inexpensive, effective and you don’t need a prescription.

Many cruise passengers swear by the patches which stick behind your ear or below the navel. Bring the motion sickness remedy that works for you.

Not Prepared For Mosquitoes

Due to the abundance of rain, the weather makes Alaska a breeding ground for mosquitoes. Don’t get eaten alive as I did in Skagway during a hiking excursion. Be prepared by packing mosquito repellent.

It’s important to note the worst time for mosquitoes is June through July. To avoid mosquitoes altogether, wait until August to travel. By then, the frost will have helped to keep the mosquitoes at bay.

If you plan to be in mosquito country during the infestation, wear long sleeves and long pants that are preferably light in color. If you plan to hike on an Alaska cruise , carry mosquito repellent.

Avoid perfume, scented shampoos, and sweet-smelling lotions that taste like honey to mosquitoes.

Thinking All Alaska Itineraries Are The Same

When planning a trip to Alaska, the most commonly asked question is: “how much is an Alaskan cruise?” Alaska cruise pricing varies by month, departure port, ports of call, and which glaciers the ship visits. 

One of the biggest Alaska cruise mistakes to avoid is thinking all itineraries are the same. The best Alaska cruise itinerary includes Glacier Bay National Park or Hubbard Glacier.

As a result, Glacier Bay cruises commands higher prices. A more affordable cruise usually sails in the shoulder season on an older ship and a less desirable itinerary.

It’s advisable to examine all itineraries before booking. A few of the new mega-ships that have started sailing Alaska don’t visit a glacier, probably because the ship is too large or the selected itineraries are booked by other vessels. 

Instead, they only stop at Alaska port towns. For me, when cruising north, I WANT to see a glacier or two!

When researching an itinerary, look at how much time a ship spends in a cruise port. The longer the better!

Thinking An Alaska Cruise Is Just For Seniors

While it’s true that Alaska attracts an older crowd, don’t discard it if you don’t fit the age category. Mega-ships like the Norwegian Bliss and Norwegian Encore offer sailings from Seattle. 

These family-friendly ships provide first-class entertainment, race car tracks, laser tag, and much more. In fact, an Alaska cruise is perfect for families, singles, and seniors alike.

If you’re a senior and prefer a line with fewer children, it’s a good idea to sail with Holland America. 

Thinking You’ll Have Fast Wi-Fi

If you’re from the United States, you can use your smartphone in port. However, you’ll need to purchase an internet access onboard.

Wi-Fi can be spotty in Alaska, even on vessels with the faster Starlink.

Since Wi-Fi is pricey across all cruise lines, you might be better to upgrade your international plans if you’re from another country. We pay CAD 25 to use our phone in the United States which is significantly cheaper than purchasing the ship’s internet.

However, we can only use the service in port or if we cruise close enough to land.

Not Spending Time In Your Embarkation Port

Most cruise guests arrive in their embarkation port the day before or day of their cruise. If you’re starting an Alaska cruise in Vancouver or Seattle, you’ll want to add a few days.

These cities are beautiful and have many great attractions. Seattle Center has the Pike Place Market, Space Needle, and Chihuly Gardens and Glass.

Traveling to Vancouver gives you a boost in currency exchange if you’re coming from the United States. Vancouver highlights include Stanley Park, Granville Island, Gastown, the Capilano Suspension Bridge, and Grouse Mountain.

If you want to see bears on your trip, Grouse Mountain has two grizzly bears named Grinder and Coola.

Not Budgeting For Shore Excursions

Even if you’ve found a great cruise deal, be prepared to spend what you’ve saved or MORE, on shore excursions. Dog sledding, whale watching, zip lining, and helicopter glacier tours, all come with sticker shock.

On my recent Quantum of the Seas cruise , Royal Caribbean was charging USD 999 per person for dog sledding. At USD 999, the tour was sold out. With a family of four, that will set you back $4k. But that’s one tour, what about the other ports?

You can easily spend more on tours than you did for your actual cruise.

Alaska Cruise Mistakes To Avoid Conclusion

If you have never been to Alaska, close your eyes and imagine house-sized icebergs floating by your cruise ship balcony or listening to the echoing sounds of humpback whales break the silence. 

Or, imagine its endless untouched wilderness with jaw-dropping glaciers surrounded by snow-capped mountains that will leave you speechless. Yes, Alaska cruising offers all of this and so much more.

Whether you’re new to cruising or a seasoned traveler, an Alaska cruise is unlike that of a Caribbean cruise. 

Do your research online by reading blogs, reviewing cruise lines, comparing itineraries, and reading about things to do in Alaska.  

Follow these tips on mistakes to avoid in Alaska, and you’ll have a spectacular vacation to the Last Frontier.

If you’re traveling as a group or with a loved one, order some fun t-shirts for everyone to wear on the cruise. It adds a bit of fun to the vacation.

Happy travels ~ Karen

Tuesday 12th of December 2023

We went to Alaska this summer not on a cruise but just land tour from Fairbanks to Seward. I would highly recommend getting into the interior for a different look at Alaska. The wildlife we saw in Denali was amazing without binoculars! We saw caribou, moose, bears, birds, and sheep all day. We took a dog sled ride in Seward for $100 not $1000! We also took a seaplane ride in Anchorage. Great time and only had rain on two days.

Thursday 7th of March 2024

@Marcia, Hi Marcia can I ask who you booked through for your land tour? We are travelling from Australia to Canada this year and the cost of purchasing an Alaskan tour from Australia is exorbitant so we are looking to book direct via Vancouver. Any suggestions or contacts welcome. Thank you

Karen Hosier

I have to agree that the interior offers a contrasting experience.

Friday 28th of April 2023

If your doing a one way I highly recommend carrying something stronger than Gravol. The stretch between Seward and Hubbard was quite rough when I was there last September. I am not prone to sea sickness and with the patches and Gravol thought I would be fine, not the case. This year I am asking my doctor for a prescription and also carrying Dramamine.

Forever Karen

It's always good to have a backup motion sickness remedy. While I rarely get seasick, even on a one-way itinerary, I got a bit queasy sailing to Sitka last year, but the patches worked well for me.

Friday 10th of February 2023

I agree usually it is an older crowd (I fit in with those demographics). Our first trip was a cruise/tour. We had a young couple on the tour as well. They had a blast. One reason is because it’s Alaska! The other reason is they had never realized how much fun older adults are. We are no longer embarrassed by anything. Don’t let the age prevent you from going. It’s a trip of a lifetime! Going again this summer but with a different itinerary. IcyStrait Point this time.

Sandra, I love this! It doesn't matter how old we are, we're as young as we feel. Enjoy your encore trip to Alaska this summer.

Thursday 26th of January 2023

Thank you ! I acknowledge you saying these cruises attract an older audience. Would you recommend them for young adults (20 yr old with their parents )?

Friday 27th of January 2023

Absolutely! I took my daughter and boyfriend (in their 20s) to Alaska last year, and they thoroughly enjoyed it.

Barb Knepper

Thursday 2nd of September 2021

For first timers, what itinerary and cruise line would you recommend?

Without a doubt, choose an itinerary with Glacier Bay National Park. As for a cruise line, that comes down to many factors like embarkation port, size of the size, whether you sail one-way or do a roundtrip. You can't go known with Princess Cruises or Holland America who have sailed to Alaska the longest.

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Revelry and Unease in Alaska as Cruises Return

Ships are carrying fewer passengers than they did before the pandemic, but in port towns where the bulk of the economy depends on cruise travel, business owners say they are “grateful for what we have.”

By Maria Cramer

Even before a rock slide in early July shut down one of the berths for the season, only about 275,000 passengers had disembarked in May and June from cruise ships in Skagway, Alaska.

That number, tallied by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, was nearly 40 percent lower than what it would have been if the ships were full when they pulled into the borough, a Gold Rush-era destination nestled in a valley by the Tongass National Forest.

Ships coming into the state’s capital, Juneau, and Ketchikan, another southeast Alaskan town that relies heavily on cruise tourism, were on average about 70 percent full in July, said Renée Limoge Reeve, vice president of government and community relations at the Cruise Lines International Association of Alaska .

That would appear to paint a bleak picture for Alaska’s cruise industry, particularly for Skagway, which welcomed more than one million cruise passengers in 2019. But that is not how many locals are describing it.

“Glorious,” said Mike Healy, the owner and general manager of Skagway Brewing Company. “Absolutely glorious.”

Two years after the pandemic crushed Alaska’s cruise industry and dealt a heavy blow to the state’s port towns, the sight of tourists ambling down the gangway, even in reduced numbers, has business owners and tour operators breathing a sigh of relief.

Andrew Cremata, the mayor of Skagway, said that he estimates the year will end with a total of about 600,000 visitors from cruises. Still, he said he is happy to see the town busy again.

“We’re surviving,” Mr. Cremata said. “And we’re so glad to be back in business.”

In April 2021, cruise lines in the United States began putting their fleets back out to sea after more than a year under a “no sail” order. But in Alaska, the industry would remain stalled for nearly three more months, in large part because of a law that forced cruise ships to stop in Canada, which had banned cruise ships until 2022 because of the pandemic.

The shutdown in 2020 and the “no sail order” from Canada had “catastrophic” effects on the southeastern part of the state, according to a 2021 study by several state agencies.

The state lost at least $1.7 billion in revenues in 2020, and during the first months of 2021 towns and port communities that rely on the cruise industry lost more than 22,000 jobs, according to the report.

In May 2021, Congress passed the Alaska Tourism Restoration Act, which allowed cruise ships to sail directly to Alaska without having to stop in Canada. But industry leaders still needed to come up with agreements with port communities, which needed reassurances that their fragile health systems would not be overwhelmed should there be an outbreak of Covid, said Ms. Limoge Reeve.

Ships then had to complete the process of bringing back their crews, said Anne Madison, a spokeswoman for the Cruise Lines International Association .

“It takes about 90 days to stand up a ship and have it ready to sail,” she said.

The Alaska cruise season is brief — it typically runs from April through October — and the 2021 season was barely salvaged. A total of about 57,000 passengers came through Skagway that year, said Mr. Cremata.

Statewide, there were 124,000 cruise passengers, said Ms. Limoge Reeve.

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It was a period of terrible stress on businesses and residents, recalled Tina Cyr, who owns a small local art gallery with her partner in Skagway.

“We were just living on our savings,” she said.

But there was also a respite from the normally taxing summer season, she said. Ms. Cyr said she and her partner took a summer vacation for the first time in years. “All of us were going, ‘It’s great to have our town back,’” Ms. Cyr said. “I heard that a lot.”

The streets were so quiet that a family of foxes was regularly seen running downtown, said Jaime Bricker, Skagway’s tourism director, who visited nearby Glacier Point, a popular tourist destination, for the first time in her life.

“My family and I embraced the quiet every chance we got,” Ms. Bricker said.

Fewer tourists, more whales

Around Glacier Bay National Park , a haven for seals, whales, dolphins and bears about 90 miles west of Juneau, the cruise ships were not missed, said Stephen Van Derhoff, one of the owners of Spirit Walker Expeditions of Alaska in Gustavus, a town of about 500 people near the park.

Mr. Derhoff’s business takes people to Glacier Bay in small kayaks and caters to independent travelers who want a more intimate wilderness experience.

“To see the giant cruises going by and the exhaust and smoke coming off them can have a negative impact,” Mr. Van Derhoff said. “For the first half of 2021 there was very little cruise ship traffic and that was actually very nice.”

Fewer ships at sea also gave scientists the opportunity to see the effects on humpback whales.

In 2020, researchers from the University of Alaska identified 63 adult whales, the most they had seen in a five-year period, said Heidi Pearson, an associate professor of biology at the University of Alaska Southeast. Dr. Pearson, who is conducting the study with Shannon Atkinson, a professor in the fisheries department at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, said that it was too early to say whether fewer vessels at sea were the principal factor.

In Skagway, no one wanted the cruise ships gone for long, said Mr. Cremata, the mayor.

“I know there are some places that have a love-hate relationship with tourists,” he said. “But we love our tourists.”

More are coming, according to cruise companies, which in general have been offering discounts as they find their ships have room, in part because passengers are waiting longer to book.

Norwegian Cruise Line said it has five vessels sailing in the Alaskan region.

For the first time, Hurtigruten Expeditions, a smaller cruise company that specializes in trips to remote locations like Antarctica and the Arctic has operated trips to Alaska this year for the first time.

Ms. Limoge Reeve said industry officials project Alaska will see more than a million cruise passengers in 2022. “We’re really hopeful for next year,” she said. “Alaska continues to be a bucket list destination for people.”

Yet some wonder about the future of the cruise industry in Alaska.

Nicole Church, the owner of the Black Bear Inn in Ketchikan, said she believes people are now generally wary of boarding a ship filled with thousands of people.

Ms. Church said her inn has been booked since June, not with traditional cruise passengers but with guests who made their own way to the city or traveled on smaller cruise lines.

“They want to take an entire day hike, and go to Ward Lake and watch the white swans,” she said.

Dr. Atkinson, one of the professors studying humpback whales, described “mixed” feelings about the return of cruises.

While she is concerned about their effects on the environment, she said cruise ships, with their ability to take thousands of people to see the receding glaciers of Alaska, have an incredible opportunity to educate passengers about climate change.

“They have a captive audience,” Dr. Atkinson said.

Follow New York Times Travel on Instagram , Twitter and Facebook . And sign up for our weekly Travel Dispatch newsletter to receive expert tips on traveling smarter and inspiration for your next vacation.

Maria Cramer is a breaking news reporter on the Express Desk.  More about Maria Cramer

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Environment  | Southeast  | Tourism

Seattle journalist describes impacts of Alaska’s ‘cruise ship invasion’

April 3, 2023 by Anna Canny, KTOO

April brings the start of Alaska’s cruise ship season. Juneau will welcome hundreds of cruise ships in the coming months. In a recent interactive feature for Hakai magazine called ‘Cruise Ship Invasion’, freelance investigative journalist Andrew Engelson looked at the impact the cruise industry has on the environment and quality of life in Southeast Alaska.

Engelson talked with KTOO’s Anna Canny about his findings.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Anna Canny: You’re based in Seattle. And that’s sort of the hub where a lot of these Alaskan cruise ships set sail. So I’m sure you’re used to just seeing the presence of the industry, but as a reporter, what motivated you to take a deep dive into their environmental impacts?

Andrew Engelson : You can’t help but see those ships here. And I was aware that, you know, there were a lot of impacts, and I’ve seen reporting on it — you know, the carbon impacts, the emissions. And then, you know, these are floating hotels that have up to 4,000 people on them. And so those people are, you know, brushing their teeth and using showers. And so there’s going to be treated sewage, gray water, all the trash that’s generated, and, you know, thousands of tourists basically doubling or tripling the size of the population of small towns when the ships arrive. But I wanted to dig in deeper. And so I spoke to the magazine that published it, Hakai, about how we could approach that. 

Anna Canny:   As you mentioned, there’s been a lot of reporting on this over the years, but something that’s really unique about your piece, I think, is the formatting of it. So we follow this one fictional ship — you call it the Oceanic Topaz — and we follow through its stops on its journey through Alaska. I wonder what led you to that approach?

Andrew Engelson :  Yeah, I mean, the findings I had found in this, were really overwhelming. You know, putting it in a traditional article was gonna make it difficult to really kind of cumulatively see those impacts. But if you kind of look at one ship and, seeing the impact of just one ship on its seven day journey, I think was was pretty powerful.

Anna Canny : I just want to highlight some of the numbers that you bring up in your reporting: 2,800 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions. And then, of course, you use hot tubs to visualize the wastewater, which I thought was helpful: 400 hot tubs of sewage and 3,000 hot tubs of gray water. And of course, there’s the trash . I think it was eight tons of trash. Those are huge numbers. And that’s all for one ship. And then you start to understand here in Juneau, we’re seeing up to five ships a day.

Andrew Engelson : It’s amazing to think about that there are nearly 300 of them, making that journey. You know, 13 ships, 300 sailings, it’s a lot.

Anna Canny: Here in Juneau, something that really struck me is that the majority of our marine emissions, I think upwards of 80%, can be linked to the diesel fuel that burns with cruise ships. But I’m wondering if you could contextualize that piece a little bit more for me.

Andrew Engelson : Yes, it was really surprising, because I think a lot of us, we’re always thinking about climate impacts about, you know, whether we drive our car on a trip, or if we take a flight, and you know, where cruises fit into that as well. And, cruises seem to be really high on that level. And that was fairly surprising to see that one seven-day cruise putting out 2,800 metric tons of carbon dioxide, which is equivalent to driving 600 cars for a year.

Anna Canny: Those diesel fuels are really heavy on emissions, but they’re also heavy on another kind of pollution, which I wasn’t super familiar with. It’s the impact of scrubber discharge .

Andrew Engelson : A lot of these ships, for years, used what’s called high sulfur fuel, and it puts out these particulates. It’s really bad pollution. And so the International Maritime Organization recommended that ships either switch to a low sulfur fuel, or put in what’s called a scrubber, which basically sprays water through the exhaust, and basically taking that and putting those pollutants into the water, instead of into the air. The problem is, is then it takes those pollutants and puts it out into the sea. That discharge is very acidic, it contributes to ocean acidification. It has, you know, metals and other pollutants in it. And it’s really very unregulated, because it’s relatively new. I mean, most people know about, you know, sewage, and that it should be treated. But this is dumped in both Washington State, British Columbia and Alaska.

Anna Canny: It’s clear from a lot of the sources that you interview that there’s definitely concern, like Alaskans are concerned and are noticing these impacts. But there’s a trade off for a lot of these communities, right? You hear about the economic benefit that the cruise industry brings.

Andrew Engelson : Yeah, it’s a complicated issue. I mean, you know, Seattle actually definitely benefits there’s no question. And certainly the economic benefits to places like Juneau and Ketchikan are high. And maybe the economic benefits are, you know, worth it. But when you kind of total up all of those impacts and the impacts the quality of life, you know, there’s no question. And it was surprising to me that there was a poll of Juneau residents that said, a majority of them were like, yes, we should limit the number of cruise ships.

Anna Canny: Well, yeah, I’m sure it will be really interesting for our listeners, because our first cruise ships arrived just over two weeks from now. And you’ve given me lots to think about as I watched them start to come in. So thanks for chatting with me, Andrew.

Andrew Engelson : I really appreciate it.

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Large cruise ships are returning to Southeast Alaska, ending a 21-month hiatus

Ketchikan Port and Harbor Department director Hamish Struthers places barriers for the arrival of the Royal Caribbean International radiance-class cruise ship Serenade of the Seas on Friday at Berth 4 in Ketchikan. (Dustin Safranek / Ketchikan Daily News)

JUNEAU — Southeast Alaska’s tourism drought is ending.

On Friday, the first large cruise ship in 21 months, Royal Caribbean International’s Serenade of the Seas , tied up to Ketchikan’s docks.

The ship was a test voyage, intended to gauge the effectiveness of COVID-19 precautions. But others will follow later this month and they will keep arriving through October. Sitka will see its first ship mid-month. Juneau, the state’s biggest cruise port, will welcome its first big arrival on July 23.

After an intense political and economic effort, an abbreviated tourism season is underway in Southeast Alaska, highlighted by the return of the big ships.

There is some trepidation. COVID-19 is still around. Still, business owners, political leaders and residents say they’re excited.

“Personally, I am ecstatic,” said Midgi Moore, who operates a food-tour business and serves as president of Juneau’s downtown business association.

Tourism is the biggest industry in this part of the state, and while independent travelers and small cruise ships have been coming to the region for months, large cruise ships — those carrying at least 250 passengers — are the mainstay of the tourist economy.

In 2019, 1.33 million cruise ship passengers traveled to the region, most arriving on big ships. The industry expected even more in 2020, but because of the COVID-19 pandemic, almost every sailing was canceled. Just 48 cruise ship tourists arrived in Southeast Alaska in 2020, according to independent economic organization Rain Coast Data.

FILE PHOTO: Cruise ships near downtown Juneau in May 2019 are visible from a vantage point on Mount Juneau. (Becky Bohrer / AP file photo)

Patti Mackey, head of the Ketchikan Visitors Bureau, helped organize a celebration on Friday to welcome the first ship — “traditional Ketchikan-style entertainment,” she said, as well as speeches from U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Lt. Gov. Kevin Meyer.

“I think it’s just a ‘we-did-it-yay’ kind of celebration,” she said.

The pandemic has had a brutal effect on Southeast Alaska’s economy.

Across the region, tourism businesses said their revenue in 2020 was down 83% from the year before. A third of those businesses said they were at risk of permanently closing without a 2021 season, according to a survey conducted by Rain Coast Data.

For Ketchikan, Mackey estimated the community lost about $263 million in 2020 with no cruise ships. That included tours not sold to tourists, fish not sold to visiting ships, and wages not paid to summer workers.

The industry was shut down last year after it became clear cruise ship travel posed serious risks. By April 2020, at least 54 cruise ships hosted coronavirus infections, with close quarters aboard ships spreading the disease among passengers and crew. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, seeing the rapid spread, took action.

As the cruise industry attempts to restart, it is imposing vaccine mandates, enacting new health standards and working with local public health officials to handle possible problems. Communities are balancing the need for employment and subsistence with the need to protect public health.

“I want to get to 2022 healthy, and if that means having a few fewer passengers in 2021, I’m OK with that,” said Skagway Mayor Andrew Cremata.

Even if COVID-19 doesn’t pose additional problems, it won’t be a full tourist season. Many Southeast Alaska residents cram a full year of work into the frenetic four months between May and September. That schedule has now been further compressed, and tourism businesses need to hurry to find seasonal workers just as year-round companies are reopening fully, too.

Mackey said she expects in the neighborhood of 170,000 to 175,000 passengers this year.

In Juneau, Moore said that given the short time frame and trouble hiring, a lighter year will give her enough work that she won’t be overwhelmed.

FILE PHOTO: Passengers disembarking from the Nieuw Amsterdam and other vessels set out to explore Juneau on Aug. 14, 2017, at the cruise ship berths downtown. (Erik Hill / ADN)

“I’m kind of glad we’re not getting all the business, because I just couldn’t accommodate it,” she said.

“It will get me through this year,” she said. “I’m going to be OK. I’m going to do fine. Am I going to have the banner year of 2019? No, but am I going to have a better year than 2020? Absolutely.”

A ‘brutal’ business environment

That’s the mood in much of Juneau, where some year-round businesses are belatedly lengthening their hours for summer — the Alaskan Bar, for example, now opens at noon instead of 4 p.m. — and seasonal shops are preparing to open their doors.

As they open, businesses are having to contend with a tight labor market.

“I do think one of the biggest hiccups every single business is having is staffing,” said Moore, of Juneau’s Downtown Business Association.

Holland America-Princess, the largest tour bus operator in Juneau, has called former employees into service for help and is offering free housing as an incentive. The sled-dog camps atop the Juneau Icefield aren’t operating this year.

Reecia Wilson owns five restaurants in downtown Juneau. Two remain closed because it doesn’t make economic sense to reopen them for a few weeks of tourists. The others aren’t operating at full capacity because of a lack of workers. She traveled to Seattle to recruit, offering free housing, a plane ticket to Juneau and a free plane ticket home.

[ To lure employees during the worker shortage, some Alaska companies are offering perks or more pay. Others are scaling back until they can restaff. ]

“We don’t have the seasonal people to pick from. Everybody who’s working at restaurants is working at two or three restaurants,” said Tracy LeBarge, owner of Tracy’s Crab Shack, one of the most prominent businesses on the cruise ship waterfront in Juneau.

Tracy LaBarge, owner of Tracy's Crab Shack in Juneau, talks to a film crew on Thursday. (James Brooks / ADN)

The lack of tourists has hurt her restaurant. Business was down 95% last year, and it is down 76% so far this year. She’s not breaking even, had to pay cash for crab over the winter and has sold two of her other restaurants, an upscale venue called Salt and an Indian-food restaurant called Saffron.

“Salt can’t even open up fully because they don’t have enough staff,” she said.

At the crab shack, she has a reliable crew of employees, she said. But she normally hires extra help — college students and foreign workers — to get through the summer. Those workers are hard to find this year.

“It’s brutal,” she said.

And it will take more than this year’s cruise arrivals for many local businesses to recover. Dean Graber owns and operates Rainforest Custom , which manufactures custom furniture and cabinets. Until 2020, he also sold products from a gallery in downtown Juneau, in the cruise ship district. When the pandemic hit, that storefront closed.

“My wife was going over the numbers and saying, if there’s no ships, we’re sunk,” he said. “We decided just to pull the plug.”

He sold much of his stock at a loss but kept his woodworking shop.

“I don’t think this year is going to be very much of anything. If people can open, they’re having a hard time finding people to reopen,” he said.

He also isn’t sure about how the cruise industry will fare under COVID-19.

“I’m skeptical that the ships are going to be able to remain COVID-free, especially with the new variants popping off, but we’ll see,” he said.

A cruise season beginning ‘against all odds’

For most of the spring, it appeared as if Southeast Alaska’s 2021 tourist season would resemble last year’s.

Federal law requires foreign-registered ships — which account for almost all large cruise ships that visit Southeast Alaska — to stop in a foreign country when traveling between two American cities, such as Seattle and Juneau. But in February, Canada announced that it would extend a ban on large cruise ships through 2022.

Alaska’s politicians made a multipartisan push in response, urging Congress to temporarily suspend the federal law that requires a foreign stop.

Businesses “were able to make it through one season, but I kept hearing from more and more that if they had nothing to look forward to in this season, they weren’t sure if they would have the ability to remain open,” said U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska.

The effort worked “against all odds,” Murkowski said. Alaska’s congressional delegation got unanimous support in Congress for a temporary waiver, and President Joe Biden signed it into law.

While that waiver solved many of the legal issues facing a restart, it didn’t end the cruise industry’s challenges with COVID-19.

Today, I signed the Alaska Tourism Restoration Act into law. Tourism is vital to the state of Alaska — and this law will help revitalize the industry and support Alaskans by allowing large cruise ships to return to the state this summer. pic.twitter.com/LrBMTJldpD — President Biden (@POTUS) May 24, 2021

Cruise lines that idled their ships in 2020 are now beginning to reopen under a phased approach mandated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That approach has been successfully challenged in court by the state of Florida, but it’s still in effect in Alaska.

Under the CDC’s rules, cruise lines have two ways to restart sailing. Each line has to come up with a ship-specific COVID-19 mitigation plan that includes mandatory testing. If the cruise line doesn’t guarantee that more than 95% of a ship’s crew and passengers are vaccinated, the ship has to undergo a “simulated voyage” — a test trip that judges the effectiveness of its mitigation plan.

The ship that arrived in Ketchikan on Friday — the Serenade of the Seas — was on that kind of test trip. About 800 crew and 300 volunteer passengers — many Royal Caribbean employees — were on board.

The CDC is using color codes to grade ships on their readiness for sailing. Green is good to go, red is unready. On Thursday, Serenade of the Seas was coded orange, a sign that it hadn’t yet completed its trial.

Brian Salerno, a senior vice president with the Cruise Lines International Association, a trade group, said cruise lines are interested in having an Alaska season this year because they think there’s passenger demand, and because they want to demonstrate support for Southeast Alaska’s port cities.

“I think there was a real desire to demonstrate that we’re committed to the state as an industry and we wanted to resume as soon as we realistically could do so,” he said.

Masks mandated onboard, and casinos limited to the vaccinated

Royal Caribbean, like all of the other big-ship cruise lines operating in Alaska this year, is requiring crews to be vaccinated and passengers 12 and older to be vaccinated. The company is asking passengers to show proof of that vaccination, such as a copy of their vaccination card.

Because Royal Caribbean expects to carry families with children, it’s not guaranteeing the vaccination standard that allows it to avoid a test voyage. Salerno said it’s reasonable to expect 90% instead.

Even with vaccinations required, the company has a long list of rules onboard : Masks are mandated and seats are spaced apart. Dining rooms are segregated into spaces for vaccinated people and groups including unvaccinated individuals. The onboard spa and gym facilities are available at selected times for unvaccinated and vaccinated people. Onboard casinos were limited to the vaccinated.

“The procedures onboard are probably the most stringent of any you would find in a comparable environment onshore,” Salerno said. “I would say these ships are as healthy as they can humanly be.”

The CDC is also requiring port cities and states to come up with response plans to deal with possible outbreaks. In Southeast Alaska, cruise towns like Skagway don’t have the medical facilities to treat even 20 sick people.

“It’s kind of an unlikely scenario, but we know we don’t have enough room if there was a major outbreak,” Skagway Mayor Cremata said.

In response to those and other concerns, the state of Alaska and Southeast’s port cities reached a series of agreements with each large-ship cruise line that plans to operate in Alaska this year. The first agreement, with Norwegian Cruise Lines , was signed in late May, and other agreements have followed.

The Norwegian agreement is typical. The cruise line is in charge of quarantining any crew or passengers who test positive, and if anyone falls seriously ill, they will be flown to Seattle at the cruise line’s expense.

The hope for many is that if businesses can make it through this year, next year will bring even more tourists.

“I know this is not what everybody hoped for, but to be able to have visitors in the Southeastern part of the state for the next six to eight weeks here, I think it’s going to be the shot in the arm that we need and will give us something we can look forward to in 2022,” Murkowski said.

“Our hope, of course, is that next year, in 2022, things will be closer to 2019,” Salerno said.

The cruise lines are acting that way: Norwegian Cruise Line is moving forward with plans for a large new dock in Juneau, the city’s fifth, and new docks have opened in Hoonah and Ketchikan.

“As for next year, maybe things will be back to normal. Maybe it’ll be crazy Juneau again,” Graber said.

James Brooks

James Brooks was a Juneau-based reporter for the ADN from 2018 to May 2022.

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NTSB Determines Cause of a Cruise Ship Striking a Pier in Alaska

​​Radiance of the Seas pictured before the contact in St. Thomas. (Source: NTSB)​

​​WASHINGTON (June 13, 2023) — Overreliance on an electronic chart, miscommunication and an outdated navigational chart were all factors in a cruise ship damaging a cruise terminal pier last year near Sitka, Alaska, the National Transportation Safety Board said Tuesday.

The cruise ship Radiance of the Seas was docking at the Sitka Sound Cruise Terminal on May 9, 2022 , when it struck and damaged a mooring dolphin. The cruise ship sustained a minor hull indentation. The mooring dolphin sustained damage to three of the four pilings supporting it. There were no reported injuries to the 1,375 passengers, 782 crew and four pilots on board. The contact resulted in $2.1 million in damages to the pier and impacted cruise ship traffic to the Sitka Sound Cruise Terminal for the remainder of the 2022 season. 

​In April 2021, the Sitka Sound Cruise Terminal pier was extended by 395 feet, including adding two mooring dolphins connected by a walkway and a 410-foot-long floating dock next to the existing dolphins. The Sitka Sound Cruise Terminal did not inform the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the agency in charge of updating U.S. coastal nautical charts, of the extension. NOAA had no record of the construction until NTSB investigators informed them of the pier’s extension after the contact. At the time of the contact, the electronic navigation chart (ENC) the cruise ship was using did not show the extended pier or added dolphins. 

​​The Sitka Sound Cruise Terminal pier is shown on June 9, 2022, with barge alongside the damaged dolphin for repairing (with catwalk removed). (Source: NTSB)

The crew of the Radiance of the Seas relied heavily on the vessel’s electronic chart and information system (ECDIS) to plan and execute their docking. The master and bridge team had other navigational technologies, including radars and cameras, available to assist them with the approach to the terminal. Even with these tools available, the crew relied solely on the ECDIS, which showed an inaccurate ENC.

While docking, the bosun and master did not confirm the type of distances that were being communicated during the docking. The bosun was relaying accurate distances to the pier’s northernmost dolphin, but the master incorrectly assumed the bosun was calling out how much clearance the ship would have as the stern passed the dolphin. 

The NTSB determined the probable cause of the contact was the master and bridge team’s overreliance on an electronic chart to identify the pier’s position relative to their planned rotation location, and the master’s misunderstanding of the clearance distances to the pier being called by the crewmember on the stern while the vessel was rotating. Contributing was the Sitka Sound Cruise Terminal not reporting the extension of the pier into the waterway to the appropriate hydrographic authority in order to update the relevant navigational chart.

NTSB investigators cited two lessons learned as a result of the investigation, voyage planning and reporting port or terminal modifications. 

“Proper voyage planning includes developing a complete plan for every phase of the voyage—from the vessel’s starting port to its end port (berth to berth), including leaving the dock and mooring,” the report said. “Reference points for maneuvering should be identified, measured precisely, and reported clearly. Vessel bridge teams should also ensure that they have the most up-to-date data before getting underway and consult with the local pilot(s) on the accuracy of navigation charts to ensure depictions of ports and/or terminals are correct.”

“Ports and terminals should immediately report significant modifications to port or terminal configurations to the appropriate hydrographic authority (for example, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) so that charts can be updated and the changes made readily available to vessel owners, operators, and crews/bridge teams,” the report said.

Marine Investigation Report 23-10 ​ is available online.​      ​

To report an incident/accident or if you are a public safety agency, please call 1-844-373-9922 or 202-314-6290 to speak to a Watch Officer at the NTSB Response Operations Center (ROC) in Washington, DC (24/7).

Royal Caribbean cruise ship cancels Alaska sailings due to engine fault

Mechanical problems on a Celebrity Cruises ship have forced the cancellation of all of the vessel's remaining Alaska sailings this year, a company spokeswoman said on Wednesday.

The Celebrity Millennium, which last week developed a problem with one of its two propulsion motors, is docked in the southeast Alaska port of Ketchikan and awaiting repairs, said Cynthia Martinez, a representative for Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, the owner of Celebrity Cruises.

Arrangements were being made to send stranded passengers home.

"The safety of our guests and crew is always our highest priority. Therefore, we have decided to take the ship out of service to make repairs, cancelling Celebrity Millennium's current sailings, as well as the next four sailings," she said in an email.

The online schedule for Alaska cruise ports listed those four sailings as the only remaining Alaska voyages in 2013 for the Millennium.

There are 32 cruise ships doing business in Alaska this year, according to the Alaska Cruise Association website. The season runs from early May to the end of September.

The Millennium had 2,200 passengers and 958 crew members aboard, Martinez said. Passengers were being offered chartered air travel out of Ketchikan, refunds and certificates for future cruises, she said.

The 965-foot (294 metre) Millennium was put into service in 2000, according to Celebrity's website. It has been sailing this summer between Vancouver, Canada, and Seward, a port on Alaska's Kenai Peninsula. 

• Cruise News

Alaska Cruise Port Will Enforce Passenger Limits Starting in 2026

Andrea Santillan

• April 5, 2024

During Juneau’s last cruising season, a record-breaking 1.6 million cruise ship passengers visited the Alaskan capital.

But how will the introduction of cruise passenger limits affect its ability to welcome guests?

According to Juneau Tourism Manager Alix Pierce, there are no hard numbers yet. However, Pierce is optimistic since cruise lines have already committed to a conceptual agreement that places a cap on the number of daily passengers. 

She added that once the agreement is finalized and approved, it will be implemented in 2026. 

Aside from reducing the number of cruise ship passengers, Pierce shared that local officials are trying to make Saturday the least congested day of the week for Juneau.

Local authorities are also using the negotiations to discuss issues the city has been experiencing regarding congestion and hot berthing (when a cruise ship leaves and is replaced by another on the same day).

Alaska’s other attempts to regulate the cruise industry

Last year, Juneau succeeded in introducing a 5-per-day limit on large cruise ships . In February 2024, the city announced that it was able to radically reduce cruise ship trash from 2019 to 2023 by 92%. 

However, not all of Alaska’s attempts to regulate the cruise industry have flourished. In 2023, a resident also tried to impose a limit on the number of cruise guests that Sitka could host. From 560,000 cruise ship visitors, it proposed to introduce a cap of only 240,000 passengers per cruising season. The proposal was rejected by the city last October.

Juneau made a similar move to significantly regulate cruise ship passengers in 2021, but it failed because it wasn’t able to gather enough signatures.

According to a 2023 Economic Impact report , Juneau received over $22 million in revenues associated with cruise ships in 2023.

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Small Ships Flourish In Alaska

This article originally appeared in the March issue of AGENTatHOME magazine.  Subscribe here to receive your free copy each month.

Alaska has long been a popular destination for fans of small-ship cruising. Beginning in the early 1980s and continuing into the 1990s, companies such as Lindblad Expeditions and UnCruise Adventures, along with now-defunct lines like Alaska Sightseeing/Cruise West and Glacier Bay Cruiseline, helped to popularize the niche. Today, a number of different brands serve this burgeoning market, each offering a distinct small-ship experience and a range of itineraries.

The traditional appeal of small ships is their ability to go where the big ships can’t. Small ships get closer to shore, maximizing wildlife-viewing opportunities. They also are more intimate and immersive, said UnCruise Adventures . “Fewer passengers result in a more close-knit community on board, allowing for personalized service and attention from the crew,” the line explained, adding, “Small ships tend to have a smaller ecological footprint, which is crucial in preserving the pristine nature of Alaska.”

Altogether, there are some 17 vessels spread mainly over four small-ship cruise lines. Many are in expansion mode, offering new itineraries and new destinations for Alaska-bound travelers.

Alaskan Dream Cruises

The line is introducing a nine-day “Ice of the Inside Passage” itinerary for 2024 aboard the 49-passenger Baranof Dream visiting seven different Southeast Alaska glaciers up close, with the chance to see five more glaciers from a distance. The cruise will sail from Sitka to Glacier Bay National Park and Juneau, and then visit the Haida community of Kasaan, before concluding in Ketchikan.

The company is Alaska’s only Indigenous-owned cruise line, run by the Allen family of Sitka, who are of Tlingit descent. Five itineraries of six to nine days are available for 2024 aboard four ships carrying 40 to 80 passengers. One additional vessel – the 12-passenger Kruzof Explorer, a former Bering Sea crab-fishing boat converted for expedition cruising – is available for smallgroup charters. ADC’s trips focus on kayaking and hiking in secluded wilderness areas with an emphasis on cultural immersion.

American Cruise Lines

The company is adding new national parks cruise-tours to its Alaska offerings in 2024, which combine guided explorations in Denali National Park and Kenai Fjords National Park along with smallship cruising in Glacier Bay National Park. The seven-day land portion of these 16- or 19-day itineraries travels from Fairbanks to Juneau, where passengers board their ship for nine or 12 days of cruising the Inside Passage with stops in Skagway, Sitka, Petersburg and Wrangell.

American’s sole ship in Alaska is the 170-passenger American Constellation, which will sail on three different 2024 itineraries: a nineday “Southeast Alaska” cruise roundtrip from Juneau; a 12-day “Alaska Explorer Cruise,” also roundtrip from Juneau; and a 16-day “Alaska Inside Passage” cruise one-way between Seattle and Juneau. The line focuses on traditional port-to-port cruises, which makes it somewhat unique among Alaska’s smallship operators, and includes complimentary hotel stays, port charges and gratuities in its fares.

Lindblad Expeditions

Demand for its smallship cruises is so strong, Lindblad has added departures on its 2024 Southeast Alaska itineraries. These include a mix of longer itineraries that cover the entire length of the Inside Passage and shorter cruises that explore the hidden channels and uninhabited corners of the Alaska panhandle. Of special note is “A Remarkable Journey” to Alaska, British Columbia and Haida Gwaii,” a 15-day itinerary that spends four days in Haida Gwaii – the ancestral territory of the Haida Nation. Lindblad has secured special access to this UNESCO World Heritage Site, where passengers learn from Haida interpreters about their Native culture and have the opportunity to explore these remote islands.

Lindblad offers a wide variety of port-to-port itineraries combined with wilderness activities led by a team of naturalists and other experts. In addition to its four coastal-type vessels carrying 62 to 100 passengers, Lindblad operates expedition ships in the Arctic.

UnCruise Adventures

The line is plying new waters in 2024 and 2025. In May, it will launch its inaugural cruises of Prince William Sound. The eight-day “Prince William Sound Explorer” itinerary sails roundtrip from Whittier aboard the 36-passenger Safari Explorer. One highlight of this cruise is the chance to call at Cordova, a remote fishing village on the eastern side of the sound that has caught the attention of cruise ships lately. The itinerary will be repeated next year, along with the company’s first-ever cruises to the Aleutian Islands, sailing for 11 days between Whittier and Dutch Harbor via Kodiak Island.

UnCruise fields Alaska’s largest smallship fleet with seven vessels carrying 22 to 88 passengers. As its name suggests, it focuses on outdoor activities in hidden coves and secluded bays for a different kind of cruise experience. Eleven itineraries are scheduled for this year and next; some departures are sold as adult-only or family-only cruises.

Expedition Options

Besides Alaska’s U.S.-flagged coastal-style ships, several foreign-flagged expedition vessels visit the 49th state during the cruise season.

While they are somewhat larger than their coastal counterparts, they still can be considered small – especially when compared with the 4,000-passenger megaships sailing in the region.

Such choices for this upcoming Alaska season include HX’s 530-passenger Roald Amundsen (the only hybrid-powered cruise ship operating in coastal Alaskan waters), Hapag-Lloyd Cruises’ 230-passenger HANSEATIC spirit, Lindblad Expeditions 238-passenger National Geographic Resolution and PONANT’s yachtlike, 264-passenger Le Soleal.

Although they are often built for polar exploration, these vessels also cruise the more temperate waters of the Gulf of Alaska and Inside Passage with naturalists and other scientists aboard.

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City and cruise lines agree to conceptual cruise visitor limits in Juneau

The City and Borough of Juneau has negotiated a conceptual agreement with cruise lines that could limit the number of daily passengers that come off their ships and into Juneau. 

At an Assembly meeting Monday night, City Tourism Manager Alix Pierce said the agreement is still far from final. If approved, the limits would go into effect during the 2026 season.

“We do not have a preliminary agreement on an MOA with specific numbers yet but we have agreed to the concept of a daily limit MOA, which is an important step in the right direction,” she said. 

Last season, a  record 1.6 million cruise ship passengers  visited Juneau. Next Tuesday, the arrival of the Norwegian Bliss will mark the start of the 2024 season. 

This year will be Juneau’s first with  a limit of five large ships  per day, but the overall number of passengers is expected to  remain about the same .

Pierce said when the city and cruise lines met last week to negotiate the future limits, they did not settle on a specific number for the daily limit. But, she said it would likely be a decrease from the status quo and would make Saturdays the least trafficked day of the week.   

“They knew this conversation was coming, they knew this was the purpose of the meeting and we had asked them to come ready to discuss daily limits and the issues and challenges around that,” she said. 

She said the city is also in discussion with cruise lines about addressing the challenges with hot berthing – when one ship leaves and another takes its place later that day – and downtown congestion. 

This isn’t the first attempt to limit the number of cruise ship passengers visiting Southeast communities. Last summer, city officials in Sitka  denied a citizen’s petition  to put a visitor cap on the ballot. And in 2021, Juneau resident Karla Hart  proposed a ballot initiative  to set a ship size limit, no-ship days and no-ship hours. That initiative  didn’t get enough signatures  to go to voters.

Clarise Larson, KTOO - Juneau

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17 reported hurt after river cruise ship hits a concrete passageway on the Danube in Austria

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Seventeen passengers were hurt when a Bulgarian river cruise ship lost steering and hit the sides of a lock on the Danube in Austria, the apa news agency reported Saturday. Eleven of the injured were taken to hospitals.

The ship with 142 passengers aboard, most of them from Germany, temporarily lost power to its electronics system and became unsteerable as it passed through narrow locks at 9:45 p.m. Friday, apa reported.

The ship’s power was restored but not before the bow and stern struck the concrete sides of the lock passage near the town of Aschach, a few miles upriver from Linz.

The ship sustained minor damage and continued to its next port. The cause of the loss of electrical power was under investigation.

How these cruise passengers missed boarding, got stranded in Africa

Both Americans and Australians were left at port after an excursion ran long.

After what seemed like a dream trip, several American travelers were left stranded at port in West Africa mid-cruise while traveling from Cape Town, South Africa, to Barcelona, Spain.

Jay and Jill Campbell told ABC News Myrtle Beach affiliate WPDE that they were in the first week of a three week voyage aboard Norwegian Cruise Lines when they stopped just off the coast of West Africa.

The couple and others opted to tour the nearby island of São Tomé and Príncipe on the afternoon of March 27, and when the excursion ran late, they said they brought it to the guides' attention.

"We were like, 'our time is getting short,'" Jay Campbell recalled, at which point he said the guide let them know, "'No problem we can get you back in an hour.'"

Upon their return, the passengers said cruise officials refused to let them aboard the ship, even as the local Coast Guard had ferried the group to the anchored vessel.

"The harbormaster tried to call the ship. The captain refused the call. We sent emails to NCL the customer service emergency number," Jay Campbell said. "They said the only way for us to get in touch with the ship is via email. They're not responding to our emails."

The Campbells say they were left stranded along with four other Americans and two Australians -- of whom one is a paraplegic, one has a heart condition and one is pregnant. Some did not have credit cards or medication that was left on board.

Cruise expert Stewart Chiron, known as The Cruise Guy, told ABC News that "the bottom line was, they were hours late, the ship was ready to go."

MORE: Norwegian Cruise Line passengers claim Antarctica voyage was rerouted mid-trip

"More than likely that the anchor was already up, and the ship was already possibly moving," he said.

He continued, "Any operation at that point to get these passengers back on the ship would have caused tremendous delays, and safety would have been a major concern."

In a statement to ABC News, a spokesperson for Norwegian Cruise Lines said, "On the afternoon of March 27, 2024, while the ship was in São Tomé and Príncipe, an African island nation, eight guests who were on the island on a private tour not organized through us missed the last tender back to the vessel, therefore not meeting the all aboard time of 3 p.m. local time."

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They continued, "While this is a very unfortunate situation, guests are responsible for ensuring they return to the ship at the published time, which is communicated broadly over the ship's intercom, in the daily communication and posted just before exiting the vessel."

The spokesperson added that the passports for the passengers who did not return at the all aboard time "were delivered to the local port agents to retrieve when they returned to the port, as per the regular protocol."

"Our team has been working closely with the local authorities to understand the requirements and necessary visas needed for the guests to rejoin the ship at the next available port of call," they said.

The Campbells said that their eight person group spent 15 hours traveling through six countries in an attempt to rejoin the Norwegian Dawn ship in Banjul, Gambia, on April 1. However, the ship couldn't dock due to low tide, so they are now trying to get to Senegal where the ship is meant to dock on Tuesday.

The Norwegian spokesperson said, "Unfortunately the ship was unable to safely dock in the destination due to adverse weather conditions, as well as tidal restrictions that require specific timing for safe passage. While we share in our guests' disappointment, this modification was made with great consideration for their safety and that of our crew, which is our top priority."

The cruise line contacted the guests "regarding this itinerary adjustment and provided them with authorization to rejoin the ship at Dakar, Senegal on April 2, 2024."

In light of the "series of unfortunate events outside of our control," the spokesperson said Norwegian Cruise Lines "will be reimbursing these eight guests for their travel costs from Banjur, Gambia to Dakar, Senegal" and are still in communication with the guests to provide additional information as it becomes available.

MORE: Meet the cruise couple who have spent over 450 days at sea so far

In a separate, unrelated situation that took place coincidentally on the same day of the voyage, the spokesperson said, "An 80-year-old woman was medically disembarked after being evaluated by our onboard medical team, who thought it best that she receive further assessment and treatment as needed from a local hospital."

"In instances such as these, as the guest was released from the hospital and in a coherent state, our protocol is to contact the guest directly, as we would not have the authority to share any medical details with anyone else without their expressed consent," the spokesperson added, saying they worked with the port agent to receive updates.

"The guest has since been escorted on a flight to Lisbon, Portugal, and then put in the care of airport staff to continue her journey to the United States, where she has now made a safe return," they said.

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